Q&A with Neil Scheepers - Golf Superintendent, Stellenbosch Golf Club

Q&A with Neil Scheepers - Golf Superintendent, Stellenbosch Golf Club

When did you realize that turf management was the industry you want to take further?

In 2001 I started studying landscaping at Technikon Pretoria (Tshwane University of Technology) and I went to help a school friend out at Loftus Versfeld who was busy over seeding and prepping Loftus for what was at that time still the “Super Rugby season”. That’s where I realised this is more my line, rather than traditional landscaping.

What is the best and worst part of being a golf course superintendent?

- Best part of being a Superintendent – is working outside, working with people, working with, and in nature and trying your best to create a great playing surface at arguably the busiest 18-hole golf course in SA with more than 52 000 eighteen-hole golf rounds a year.

There’s nothing more satisfying getting a compliment from a golfer saying “well done” to you and your team “the course played and looked great

Seeing the sun rises and sun sets whilst still at work is also very special. There’s nothing more satisfying getting a compliment from a golfer saying “well done” to you and your team “the course played and looked great”.

- Worst part of being Superintendent – golfers, being disrespectful of the team’s hard work. Essentially taking the hours and dedication that you and your team have put in to provide an excellent a golf course, for granted.

Missing out on family days especially in summer, kids sporting events over weekends. The worst is however without doubt a drought. There is nothing worse than a drought as it just breaks your heart and your team’s spirit and there’s nothing you can do about it.

You are at Stellenbosch GC, not to far from the coast, does the coastal climate have an influence on the course maintenance?

No not really, Stellenbosch is 20+kms from the coast. During summer we are about 10°C warmer than the areas directly on the coast. We don’t suffer as much from the wind than the coastal courses but we do get our August winds which, at times have caused major damage to the course with trees being blown over.

What are the differences in grasses at Stellenbosch to other parts of the country?

We are very similar to other parts of the country.

- Bent / Poa mix on the greens (cool season grasses)

- Kikuyu on tee’s, fairways, and rough (warm season grass)

- Veld grass / Kikuyu mix in the deep rough (warm season grass)

During winter there’s more Poa Annua on tee’s, fairways and in the rough, which, off course, dies back in the summer.

Does one need different machinery on course for different types of grasses around the country?

Not really, your basics stay the same throughout the country, but you need different machinery for different areas on the course.

On Stellenbosch we use a rotary blade mower as your cylinder mower tends to struggle to mow your veld grass with more upright growth

- Greens: walk behind cylinder mowers

- Tee’s and Fairways: ride on cylinder mowers just different size for bigger or smaller areas

- Rough if its only kikuyu with no veld grass mix in between: a cylinder mower can be used but on Stellenbosch we use a rotary blade mower as your cylinder mower tends to struggle to mow your veld grass with more upright growth.

Do you think it should be mandatory for each golf course to close one day per week for maintenance?

Yes please ! With a busy course like Stellenbosch it is always quite tricky to get a head start if you need to do maintenance especially, verticutting, dusting or spiking of greens or other cultural practises on other areas like tee’s or fairways.

We start at 5 in the morning to get that head start before golfers arrive. I’m very fortunate ‘that we close the course twice a year for 5 days to complete my two hollow tining procedures.

I find this far better than a rushed 2 day process during which the course is closed and golfers playing again on day 3.

Do maintenance staff ever come into conflict with golfers and how do you deal with this?

Golfers must please remember that staff member woke up just after 4am to be at work at 5am to provide a well-manicured golf course to play on

There is from time to time a grumpy person on the course which will find fault with something and will accost the closest staff member. I normally try and keep calm and will address the golfer and explain why that person is busy working there or why he is making a noise with a machine. Golfers must please remember that staff member woke up just after 4am to be at work at 5am to provide a well-manicured golf course to play on.

People always complain about inconsistent bunkers how difficult is it to maintain consistent bunkers and do you implement general check and how?

It is one of the most difficult areas to achieve the ever elusive “consistent” bunker. There are so many factors that are influencing the consistency of a bunker. First of all do, is the sand “consistent”, generally not. Do the course have “back to back” irrigation, do you have consistent drainage in every bunker, is all the bunker slopes exactly the same in relation to the wind direction, sand levels etc, etc.

It remains a mystery how the condition of a hazard has become universally the number 1 complaint in golf

Unfortunately it’s not possible to check each and every bunker everyday but we try our best to keep them consistent. It remains a mystery how the condition of a hazard has become universally the number 1 complaint in golf.

All being said and done it’s a very rewarding job that I enjoy immensely 95% of the time.